A huge MAHALO to the people of the Pacific Islands Fisheries Group (PIFG). Sunday October 7 was their second annual Fishing and Sea Food Festival. In participation were numerous vendors and educational groups. The agenda included two bands, all day fish displays, @#$%& house tours, tours of an Aku boat, Seafood info and fish testing, Gytoku demonstrations, Fish handling for quality and safety, Hawaii’s Integrated Fishery Management System, Tuna quality & what buyers look for, Spin casting for kids, Moi tag and release, Long casting, Fly casting, Spin casting and plugging for Ulua, Knot tying, Ulua rigging and knots, Akule fly tying, and Constructing a casting rod. In addition to the center stage, seafood demonstration area, dock demonstration area, and warehouse workshop, there were about 85 tents/booths. The weather was fantastic (as usual) with normal trade winds.

The program promotes responsible fishing by all parties and the motto is Fish Today for Fish Tomorrow. PFIG is a non-profit organization of dedicated individuals who spend a great deal of time and effort in support of the motto. The large attendance of people for these events sends a strong message to our law makers that fishing is important to the people of Hawaii.

The festival ran from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM with lines forming at the gate at 8:00 AM. Since last year’s attendance was about 10,000 people, the projection for this year was 15,000. At 2:00 PM, I was informed by an official that attendance had already surpassed 20,000 people.

Again, a huge thanks to PIFG for accomplishing a tremendous undertaking. The number of required tasks and coordination is unthinkable. Parking requirements alone required a great effort. Shuttle busses, at no cost, ran continuously from a nearby community college. And then there was vendor and participant loading and unloading. And on and on…

The biggest contributor may have been from a local Nissan dealer. King Nissan donated a truck for silent @#$%&.

And my personal thanks to Lamiglas. The folks at Lamiglas were able to ship 50 different rods and blanks in a timely fashion. They are great people to work with. There were a lot of people at the festival who were very pleased to see the Lamiglas rods.

Bottom line, if you decide to visit Hawaii, October is a great month.

Don

Don Becker

Hi Don,

Sounds like a really amazing time. Which island is this festival held on ? I do a lot of travel to Waikiki for business and would love to try and attend next year.

Thanks, Jeff

Hi Jeff,

It really was amazing. It is held on Oahu and is located about (guessing) midway between Waikiki and the airport. Pacific Ocean Producers is located on Pier 38 and has their tackle shop at that location. This is where the people who want to sell their fresh catch drop off fish for the @#$%& block.

Here's a link to the PIFG web site. You will be able track next years event. There is currently a presentation of last years festival on the web page.

[fishtoday.org]

And a link to a Yahoo map:

[maps.yahoo.com]

Since the events are held on Sundays, It has been suggested that I conduct a casting workshop on Saturday. It is an interesting suggestion.

Give us a call when you're in town.

Don

Don Becker